NCJ Number
225264
Editor(s)
Frank van Gemert,
Dana Peterson,
Inger-Lise Lien
Date Published
2008
Length
304 pages
Annotation
In bringing together recent research conducted by members of the Eurogang Network, who represent 11 countries, the chapters of this book focus on methods and findings of research on gangs that involve migrant and minority ethnic members.
Abstract
The goal of the Eurogang Network is to promote international comparative research on gangs. The consensus of the Network researchers is that a “youth street gang” is “any durable, street-oriented youth group whose involvement in illegal activity is part of their group identity.” This definition is used in all the chapters. The chapters of Part I contrast migrant groups and gang activity in Europe and the United States and also discuss the dangers and challenges of doing “gang” research in the United Kingdom, given the risk that such research will highlight and stigmatize migrant and ethnic minority groups that may be involved in the gangs studied. Part II, entitled “Migration and Street Gangs,” contains four chapters that address issues related to second-generation Mexican migrants in gangs in Los Angeles; Latin-American migrant youth in Barcelona (Spain) youth street groups that have not yet evolved into criminal gangs; how conflict with outsiders has molded migrant street gangs in the Netherlands; and the origins and development of racist “skinheads” in Moscow, Russia. The five chapters of Part III address the role of race and ethnicity in gang membership, with attention to the social dynamics of ethnicity and violence in Australian gangs; the role of ethnicity in juvenile street gangs in France; group affiliation and delinquency among at-risk migrant youth in Stuttgart, Germany; and justification for gang membership among ethnic-minority youth in Toronto, Canada. The four chapters of Part IV address issues and challenges of migration and ethnicity in preventing and intervening with street gangs in various countries. Chapter notes and references and a subject index